33 Weeks - Still Trucking Along

Well, another week down and it still seems like things are under control. The contractions are getting stronger but few and far between. We had an ultrasound appt. yesterday and everything looked good. The babies are moving a lot and there is plenty of amniotic fluid and strong heartbeats:
Baby A: 148
Baby B: 164
Baby C: 136
It will be interesting to see if the old wives theory of the higher heartbeat indicating a girl is true (Baby B). The nurse saw that one of the babies had hair (I can't recall which one) and the others were bald. Must be why I had a dream last night about hair...I dreamt that two of them were born with red hair which could be a possibility with the red hair in our family. They are no longer checking my cervix and are not going to schedule a c-section for me until 36 weeks which is the longest they would let me go. So, they are basically just waiting for me to go into labor. So, it makes for a lot of suspense! I am getting bigger at a faster rate now and am up to a weight gain of 53 pounds. I have been wearing Dennis' t-shirts around the house and to bed...they are nice and comfy. As much as we are now ready, the longer they stay inside will be better for their health. I can no longer say that I am sleeping like a rock. I guess those days are over. I am up every couple hours to go to the bathroom and I have to keep changing sides because it feels all tingly as if my side has fallen asleep (kind of how it feels when you sleep on the floor). The indigestion is also still prevalent so I am sleeping almost sitting up. But, since there is so little time left it really isn't so bad. Well, I wish I had more to write about, but I guess it is good that there is no drama. I can't believe that 35 or dare I say 36 weeks is a real possibility!

32 Week Mark - We Made It!

We've hit the 32 week goal and things are still going smoothly. It is such a huge relief! I had an ultrasound today where they measured the babies to determine the estimated weights and checked their heartbeats. Here is where they stand:

Baby A - 3 lb, 15 oz.; heartbeat: 133

Baby B - 3 lb, 8 oz.; heartbeat: 144

Baby C - 3 lb, 15 oz.; heartbeat: 138

We are excited that they are continuing to grow so well. So, it looks like they will be 4 lb by the time we deliver. My cervix was still "beautiful" as the nurse said, so it seems like I will be going another week here at least. I am measuring 46 weeks now which means my uterus is stretched as if I were 6 weeks past a full term pregnancy (I had measured wrong when I did it a few weeks ago and said 48). I can see why nobody goes full term with triplets! We are getting more and more anxious to find out the gender but are so happy we are waiting to be surprised. Dennis had a dream the other night that it was 3 boys (wishful thinking maybe?). I really don't have an intuition as to what they will be...I imagine all scenarios although I don't usually picture 3 girls. I most often picture 3 boys or 2 boys and a girl. But, we shall see. I have become quite the circus act it feels. I don't go anywhere without producing a lot of wide eyes, jaw dropping and questions. I was picking up lunch today and the cashier took one look at me and said twins or triplets? Then the entire staff behind the counter/kitchen came out to look at my stomach after the cashier told them all to come and see. I guess I better get use to it because when the triplets are here it will probably be a lot of the same. Here are a couple pictures Dennis took this weekend:

Maturity Milestones Chart

Interesting chart that I came across:

31 Weeks

Good news on the Fibronectin test I had last week. The results were negative which means it is highly unlikely that I would deliver within the next 2 weeks (from last Thursday). So, we feel really optimistic that I will be making it to the 32 week goal.

On Saturday, I was having a lot of contractions when monitoring and they almost had me go to the hospital. I only felt a couple of them so I was surprised. The first hour was 12 (remember it can't be more than 4/hour), so they gave me an extra dose of the Terbutaline medicine and had me re-monitor and it was still as high as 8. They let me do one more hour from home before having me come to the hospital and it went down to 3, so I didn't have to go. Pheww!!!

Yesterday, we had an ultrasound appointment where they checked my cervix (still looking good) and the babies' heartbeats (all good...around 150). They will not be weighing them again for 2 more weeks. So, the goal is still to get through this week and then just see how long I can go before there are changes with my cervix, the contractions increase, or my water breaks. I'm still feeling really good and sleeping pretty well, so as of now I feel like I can go at least another week or two comfort-wise.

Fetal Fibronectin Test

Well, they finally got the contractions under control from home yesterday after several adjustments to the medicine dosage and monitoring. I was basically on the phone the majority of the day with the nurses. I now receive an extra scheduled "boost" of the medicine through the pump every four hours. My doctor is having me come in tomorrow at 10am for a Fetal Fibronectin Test (fFn) which can give an indication as to my preterm labor condition and when I might deliver. If the test is negative, then there is a high likelihood that I will not deliver within the next two weeks. The test is not completely reliable though because if it is positive, it only means you that you are at a higher risk of delivering early but it can't really pinpoint when. Here is more information on the test:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_preterm-labor-test-fetal-fibronectin_1511.bc
We'll just be hoping for a negative result which will give us all reassurance that I can make it another 2 weeks. We may be able to get the results the same day or it may take a day or 2...we'll see.

Burns Baby News & The Big 30!!

There was exciting news yesterday (April 7th) for the Burns family. My cousin Tommy Burns Jr. and Kathy welcomed a baby girl named Erin Elizabeth Burns, 6 lbs. 10 oz. We are all very excited for them. She surprised them by arriving almost two weeks early. We have another Burns family baby expected in May for my cousin Anne and Jim Thomas and then my sister Carolynn and Steve in August. So, that makes for 6 Burns babies this year!

Well, we made it to the 30 week mark and I am still feeling great. I can't believe how smooth things have been going lately (knock on wood). I feel very lucky to not be officially on bed rest or admitted to the hospital. I have even been sleeping great which I don't think is very common with any pregnancy. I get about 10 hours of a sleep at night and then I usually don't feel the need for a nap during the day. There were a couple of times where the monitoring showed me to have a lot of contractions but they just had me administer a boost of the medicine I am on to settle things down. It is basically just hitting a button on the little device I carry around that connects to my leg via a thin catheter to give a higher dose rather than the continuous dose I receive.

I have also hit the 40 mark, as in 40 lbs! While I don't feel any change in my appetite, the pounds seem to be coming on more easily as the babies are now growing quickly. I can easily see me hitting 50 lbs (at least) by the time I deliver. One of the books I read recommended 58-70 lbs for triplets. Other sources have said 50-60 so I would be fine with 50 or more. I've included some pictures below but I really don't think it does it justice. I look so much bigger in person; just ask Moira, Carolynn or Dennis.

A lot of the reason why I am doing so well is because of the things my doctor has ordered (e.g., cerclage, off my feet since Dec, home monitoring w/infusions, etc). Oh, and by the way, the gestational diabetes test came back negative so I am all clear there. I had to do a 24 hour urine test last week which I dropped off at the lab and they took blood and I believe that was something to test my kidneys. I haven't heard the results on that, but I'm sure it will be fine. Another reason why I have been doing so well is that Dennis has been taking care of things to allow me to stay off my feet. He really takes such good care of me and limits the amount of activity I do. I have the best husband a girl could ever ask for and more. My parents have also been a huge help making several trips down here and my friend Molly helped me with putting all the shower gifts away and setting up the nursery.

My last day of work was on Friday so now I am free to do some low-key projects around the house that I have been waiting to tackle such as putting pictures in albums, making a scrapbook for the babies, and writing thank you notes.

Ironically, as I was writing this entry, the nurse called to tell me I had 7 contractions in the hour that I did my monitoring today...oooops. She had me administer another "boost" and then wants me to re-monitor. It's amazing that I don't feel these contractions. The same thing happened yesterday and they went down during the 2nd monitoring so hopefully that will be the same thing today.

Week 29. Getting close....

Here we are at week 29 and the doctor keeps saying the goal is 32 weeks, and to quote the doctor, "anything after 32 weeks is gravy". So we're getting close.
Yesterday Jen and I went to the Hoboken hospital for her scheduled ultrasound. She was going every two weeks and now the doc wants to see her every week, which we're very happy about. It's nice to see the babies as often as possible.
Speaking of babies, they were weighed yesterday for the first time in about a month. Here's where they are as of March 31, 2008 (29 weeks):
Baby A - 3 lb, 1oz.
Baby B - 2 lb, 6 oz.
Baby C - 2 lb, 12 oz.
Apparently it's common for there to be a runt of the litter and it looks like Baby B is it. Or it's a girl, as Jen believes. But the good news is that all 3 are growing. They are very active, kicking and punching a lot, and I suspect they're ready to bust out. But they need to stay in for at least another 3 weeks, or longer.